Daughtery, Jackson land Nissan its 96th and 97th national championships at 51st SCCA runoffs at Laguna Seca

David Daughtery may long be remembered for winning his eighth Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) National title at Laguna Seca this weekend, but it was a sportsmanlike act of kindness shown a first time competitor that won the veteran racer praise from fellow SCCA racers.

On Friday afternoon, Daughtery drove his yellow Nissan 370Z from pole position to an impressive win in the T3 category, briefly losing the lead to Tom Wickersham's Mustang as the 370's tires began to lose grip. The two raced cleanly side-by-side, thrilling the crowd before the Mustang edged ahead. Seven-time national champion Daughtery, known for his exceptional racecraft, made one more run on Wickersham, pulling up on his bumper with three laps to go.  The Mustang driver wilted under the intense pressure and went off track, letting the Z past and into the lead for good. The Nissan technician from Indiana had earned his eighth and Nissan/Datsun's 96th championship in classic fashion.

On Saturday, the GT3 category saw Nissans sweep the top five spots, as Collin Jackson of Langley, BC Canada won his third championship in three tries in his bright blue Nissan 240SX, taking the checkers almost a second ahead of another three time Nissan national champ, John Black.  Black's 350Z put in a great effort, but a glitch with his tachometer left him shifting by ear throughout the race. Third place went to another 240SX, driven by Californian John Goddard, who moved up from his fifth place starting spot to take the last podium spot.

"Today's run was good," Jackson said of winning Nissan's 97th National title. "It was tighter than I thought it was going to be, but that's good. I love racing. That's why I came down here – to have a good race and I did. John [Black] gave me a couple of moments to cool my tires and that was critical. I was able to pick it up a bit when he got close. I had something left in the tank."

Tracy, California's Troy Ermish gave nine-time national champion Joe Huffaker all he could handle in GT Lite, storming past the pole sitter in the first turn in his modified Datsun 510 and opening up a good lead for the first seven laps of the 20-lap final while the veteran car builder and racer recovered.  Huffaker proved to be too much in the end, winning by almost five seconds in his tube frame Mini Cooper.  Ermish took the silver medal and was proud iof his first podium at the runoffs.

"I had an awesome start. The way SCCA has these engine packages, there are different strengths and I knew our particular package had a little more grunt. Joe picked a perfect RPM (starting tempo) for me, and we just got a good jump. Joe and I knew that we had some cushion on the rest of the field and we didn't want to race each other real, real hard. Whoever got the lead needed to run hard to stretch it out. I distanced Joe in a couple of turns, and he gathered me up. He peeked it in there at the top of the Corkscrew, and I had to give way."

The sixth and final podium Sunday morning was brought home by Daughtery in impressive fashion, driving the only Nissan Versa Note in the B-Spec field to a third place finish, drag racing the second place Mini Cooper of Travis Washay to the finish line and just missing a second place. Race winner 24-year old Kyle Keenan didn't have the budget to buy extra Hoosier racing tires he needed for his first trip to the championships. Daughtery, who races for Hoosier, was quick to offer up a new set for the race.

"I've had 30-plus years in racing, and I couldn't do it without other people. He's like I was when I was young. I figured this would give him a better chance," Daughtery said.

Keenan, driving a Kia, out qualified Daughtery in the final session, claiming the outside front row position for Sunday's race. When pole-sitter John Heinracy dropped out with electrical issues in his Chevy Sonic, Keenan pulled away, leaving Washay and Daughtery to battle for second and third.

"I'm just speechless. These tires let me compete for the win, and I can't thank Dave enough. He's the coolest competitor in the world," Keenan said.

About Nissan North America
In North America, Nissan's operations include automotive styling, design, engineering, consumer and corporate financing, sales and marketing, distribution and manufacturing. Nissan is dedicated to improving the environment under the Nissan Green Program 2010 and has been recognized as a 2010 and 2011 ENERGY STAR® Partner of the Year by the U.S Environmental Protection Agency. More information about Nissan in North America and the complete line of Nissan and Infiniti vehicles can be found online at www.NissanUSA.com and www.Infiniti.com. 

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Contact Information:

Steve Yaeger
Corporate Communications
Nissan North America, Inc.
615-725-4443
Steve.yaeger@nissan-usa.com
www.nissannews.com